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CHAPTER 7
The pastor had just finished praying and it was time for them to place flowers on the caskets. The children of the deceased are to go first.
Kayden looked at his sister. He could see she was slightly trembling and she was holding in her sobs. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
Scarlett took in deep breaths and moved toward the caskets with Kayden. With each step, her grip on the bouquet of white lilies would tighten.
When they got there, it was as if they understood each other as they stood with action. Both of them stared at their parents' smiling faces in each of the picture frames.
A silent vow is being made. With every ounce of emotion; pain, sadness, loss and anger, their minds synced.
'Dad, mum, your death I shall avenge.'
Then together, with one of their hands on their bouquet, they gently placed them on each casket. Scarlett dropped at their mother's and Kayden at their father's.
With that done, they both stepped aside for the others to proceed in also placing flowers in the caskets. Seeing this, the guests understood their actions and started moving in an orderly manner toward the caskets.
It took a while, but soon the funeral was over and everyone had started exiting the cemetery. Everyone except Scarlett still stood by her parents' casket.
Her mind took her back to a few hours back, this morning. She had just finished getting ready for the funeral and walked out of her room.
**Flashback**
Kayden was on the phone in the kitchen. He was talking in a rather know voice than usual. She did not want to be a nosy little sister. But the small words she heard made her curious.
"What do you mean, officer? Are you trying to say that the fire was planned?" Kayden questioned the person at the other end of the phone.
Scarlett could not hear whomever he was speaking with as the call was not placed on speaker. Even when she started her ears, she got nothing.
But his earlier words were enough to give get a clue of what the discussion is about. It seems as if the fire that went wild in their previous home was intentional and not by mistake.
"Alright. Thank you for the detail, officer. I appreciate it... Yeah. Have a good day," Kayden said before taking the phone away from his ear.
He heaved a deep such and gently massaged his forehead. He was already having a headache due to the call he just had.
"And what was that all about?" Scarlett asked out of the blue.
Kayden jumped out of shock. He did not hear her walk into the kitchen and her speaking without any prior notice spooked him.
"Phew. You scared me, little sis," he sighed while patting his chest to calm his racing heart.
"What was the phone call about?" Scarlett asked again.
Kayden swallowed and then coughed into his fist. "It's nothing."
Scarlett frowned. She knew he was lying. As usual, he did not look her in the eye when he said that.
Heck, she literally understood things but she still wanted to hear from him. After all, what she assumes may just be wrong.
"The fire. It was not any accident, was it? You were speaking with that police officer," she decided to hint to him that she might as well heard his conversation on the phone.
"You... Were you eavesdropping on me?" Kayden squinted his eyes at her.
"Ayden, I'm being serious. Just tell me the truth."
"It's not something I should tell you now. Just let your big brother handle it, okay?" Kayden said and walked out of the kitchen.
But Scarlett was having none of it. She ran past him and blocked his path.
"I'm their child too and I deserve to know what really happened to our parents. Please... Just tell me," her voice broke at the end.
Her throat ached from the sobs she was holding in. She didn't want to cry. Not to use it to make him give in.
Kayden sighed and pinched the space between his brows. He honestly did not want to tell her anything. It will only add to her pain.
It will hurt her more and he did not want that. But she already knows half or probably everything. He was not sure how much she heard from the phone call.
However, she had a point. She is their parents' child too. And indeed, she deserves to know what really happened in the guise of an 'accident'.
"Alright. But you have to calm down," he agreed to tell her under the condition.
"I will try. So is it true? Mum and dad... The fire was no accident?" Scarlett quickly asked after the half-assurance she gave him.
"Yes, it is true. That fire was planned. I don't know how the police knew. But I find myself believing it. It is hard for that kind of mistake to happen. Not after the little incident in the past," Kayden said.
The same fire accident had happened when they were still children. Only that it was not enough to burn down a kitchen, not to even talk of the whole house and bringing it to the ground.
Ever since then, Mr and Mrs Davis made sure it never happened. Mistakes were not tolerated. Everyone, family and staff were extremely careful.
So it came as a shock when Kayden saw their house engulfed in flames and thick fumes. He asked himself a million times how such a thing could have happened.
"But how? The officer must have said something related to that. He can't just tell you that it was no accident and then not explain how the conclusion came about," Scarlett reasoned with furrowed brows.
"Yeah. He did say they had their special investigating team on it. And he said something about patterns and stuff But he said we would talk later. It seemed as if his attention was urgently needed," Kayden said.
There was a quick moment of silence after that. Then Scarlett spoke again.
"If it was not an accident, then who would have done this?"